Curiosity Killed the Cat or Did It
by luna347
Summary: It was a regular day for Sarah... until she heard that Henry had run away. When she finds him, she sees he has brought with him a woman or, more specifically, his birth mother. Little does Sarah know that this woman will free her mind from it's prison... and allow her to find her own lost child. Going to have some Hatter/OCAlice in here as well.


A/N: First story. I will be going through the first three seasons and maybe season four. Hope you enjoy. :-D

As Henry and Emma had another argument over the idea of a whole town being made up of cursed fairy tales, they suddenly heard two voices calling out Henry's name.

"Henry!" Up to them came calling a tall man walking his dog and a young girl, about 18 or so, with a thick Scottish accent. "Henry, my boy, where have you been all day? I've been worryin' my tail off lookin' for ya." The girl said with a relieved smile as she bent down to give the boy a hug.

"I'm fine, Sarah. Nothing bad happened to me." Henry reassured as he smiled at the girl.

"Whose this pretty lass?" Sarah asked smiling at Emma.

"Just a woman trying to bring him home-." Emma replied, but was cut off by Henry as he said "She's my mom, Sarah." There was a bit of awkward silence between the four for a few seconds until Emma broke it by saying to Sarah "So do you know where he lives?"

The girl snapped back to reality and replied with a smile "Yes, just down Mifflin Street. The Mayor's house is the biggest one on the block."

Emma looked incredulously at Henry and asked "You're the Mayor's kid?!"

Henry looked down and mumbled "Maybe."

The tall man decided to cut in. He looked at Henry and asked him "Henry, where were you today? You missed our session."

"I forgot to tell you, Archie, I had a field trip today." Henry responded rocking back on his heels trying to look innocent.

Archie let out a little sigh and bent down to Henry's level and said kindly "Henry remember what I said about lying? Giving in to one's dark side accomplishes nothing."

"Ohhkayy, well I should really be getting him home." Emma said as she looked at Archie with wide, slightly disturbed, eyes.

"Yes, of course. Well have a good night." Archie said as he began to walk away.

After a few seconds, Sarah let out a little sigh and said smiling to the other two "I best be gettin' gone as well. Things to do, tea to brew." She began to walk away, still facing them, as she spoke. "You have a good night ma'am. Henry, promise me you'll stay out of trouble."

"I will. Don't worry." Henry said, knowing he would probably get into more trouble the very next day.

Sarah looked at him with a small smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye. "I don't need magical fairy tale powers to know that yer lyin' straight through yer teeth, boy." She turned around and began to walk down the street without another word to the pair until they couldn't see her any more.

"She sure takes everything with a smile, doesn't she?" Emma said looking down at Henry.

"Of course she does." The boy said, smiling in the direction the girl had went "She's the Cheshire Cat." Henry then walked around to the passenger side of the car, unable to hear Emma say through an exasperated sigh "Of course she is." She then got into the car as well, going back to the task of taking her son to his mother.

* * *

The next day Sarah woke up with a start as her alarm clock was making the most annoying sound possible. She shook her head to clear the morning fog as she began getting ready for the day.

Once she had showered and dressed, she began getting breakfast ready. She decided to pack it up as she was going to the mayor's house to babysit Henry.

As she walked around the small little town, she gave and received many waves and smiles. But she couldn't help but feel that the 'always smiling happy-go-lucky' girl the rest of the town saw was a mask she put on. The smile fell from her face as she suddenly felt a nagging pull in the back of her mind telling her that something was missing in her life, that she had lost something important and needed to get it back.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as she came up to the Mayor's home to find Regina looking worried rushing out of the home.

"Don't tell me; he ran away again, didn't he?" She asked with an unsurprised look on her face as Regina came up to her.

"I'm heading to the police station to inform the sheriff. Why don't you look around town and see if you can't find him anywhere?" She asked hurriedly.

"I'm sure we'll find him in no time at all. I'll ask around while I'm at it to check if anyone's seen him." Once the mayor took off, Sarah didn't bother to look around the town as she knew exactly where the boy was hiding.

"Ya know, if ya want to hide from everyone, then ya should hide in a place that nobody else knows." Sarah said to the sad little boy as she approached the playground castle.

"She has to break the curse. Then you'll all remember who really are." Henry said looking at the wate, sounding like he was trying to reassure himself more than anything.

"'Who we really are'. Let me ask you this, my boy: if I am really the Cheshire Cat that has been cursed to not remember who she is, then why am I human?" She asked him, truly curious.

"You weren't really a cat, they just called you that because it seemed you had nine lives." Henry replied immediately, having memorized her story.

Sarah gave a little sigh then said with a small smile "I'm not gonna bother trying to convince you that fairytales are just that, but I am going to ask you to give your mother a chance - the one that lives here, not in Boston - she's doing everything she can to make you happy. Also, if you ever think about running away again, give me a heads up so I don't go runnin' around the town like a fool, hmm."

This pulled a smile from Henry as he nodded in agreement. Unfortunately, it didn't last as he then frowned and said "I just don't want to live with someone that evil."

"Henry I-" She stopped herself as she saw Emma walking up to them. "I best leave you two alone to talk." At this Henry turned and saw Emma as well. He looked back to Sarah and nodded. She gave him pat on the back and a small smile then walked away. As she passed Emma she said "Try not to break his spirit too much, eh?" Emma got the message loud and clear 'Hurt my boy and I hurt you.' Emma nodded and continued towards Henry.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful, but what had gone on was enough to render Sarah exhausted and ready to go to bed and never awaken. After her nightly cup of tea, she went to bed, but couldn't sleep as she thought about how Emma's presence would surely have a shaky impact on her life. She only hoped that Henry wouldn't get too hurt should Emma decide to leave.

The nagging feeling from earlier was back and kicking at her tired mind, making her wonder; was she missing something? What was it that was making her question the happiness of her life?

These were the questions that went through her mind as she finally gave into sleep, only to be sucked into a wild dream.

* * *

 _Wonderland_

 _It was a regular day in Wonderland. Cheshire had just gotten back from a quick hookah smoke with Caterpillar and was making herself some tea._

 _As the tea was brewing, she took a look around the place in which she had stayed for the past three decades, but had never been able to call a home. She started walking around, taking in every little detail, her smile falling off her face as she tried to push through the madness fogging her mind; wondering why she couldn't find it in herself to be happy here._

 _As she was so lost in thought, she hadn't heard the sound of the queen's carriage nor the knock on her door. It was only until the knocks became pounds did she snap out of her thoughts as she turned around to see the knave kick open the door and make way for the queen._

" _Your majesty, what made you desire to visit an old, mad cat such as myself?" Cheshire asked, her grin coming back easily as the madness flooded her mind once more._

" _My dear Cheshire, you seem to be forgetting your purpose in Wonderland. It is not to waste your day getting high with a larva; it is to be helping me prepare weapons against this so-called Alice of Legend that is prophesied to bring down my rule." The queen said with a frown on her that made her look as if she had just bitten into a lemon._

" _Aye, I remember very clearly why I'm here, my queen. But seeing as this great enemy of yours has yet to come to Wonderland, I have no way to know her weaknesses. Therefor, my skills are useless in your service." Cheshire responded, her grin becoming more and more crazed along with the look in her eyes._

" _Well then find a way to make them useful, or I'll be sure to find that little boy whose name you kept screaming when I had you dragged here from the Enchanted Forest. I'm sure he'd love to have a play date with my torturers." The queen said with a twisted smile of her own as she left, leaving Cheshire frozen in her spot._

 _For the first time in over twenty years, the madness left her mind completely and the grin was wiped off of her face. She now remembered why she had no happiness here. The family that she loved so much had been ripped out of her arms, including her little baby boy._

A/N

Well, this is the first chapter of many to come. I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think with your reviews, I'm glad to hear your opinions.

Always and Forever, Luna347.


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